Twitter has announced it plans to lay off 9% of its workforce to focus on reducing costs and generate profit in 2017.

The social network reported a strong increase in profit, resulting in $616m in revenue, an 8% rise year-on-year, and its earnings per share were ahead of analyst estimates. Furthermore, its monthly active users increased from 313 million to 317 million from the previous quarter.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO, said in the earnings release: "This morning we announced a restructuring and reduction in force affecting approximately 9% of Twitter's positions globally. The restructuring, which focuses primarily on reorganizing our sales, partnerships and marketing efforts, is intended to create greater efficiency." Given Twitter's headcount of about 3,900, the cuts would affect around 351 people. The job cuts are slightly heavier than expected: 9% instead of a reported 8%.

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"Our strategy is directly driving growth in audience and engagement, with acceleration in year-over-year growth for daily active usage, tweet impressions, and time spent for the second consecutive quarter."

He continued: "We see a significant opportunity to increase growth as we continue to improve the core service. We have a clear plan, and we're making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth. The key drivers of future revenue growth are trending positive, and we remain confident in Twitter's future."

The company did not discuss acquisition rumours, despite rumours buyers include Microsoft, Softbank, Google parent Alphabet and Disney.